THE BUSHMAN

First Edition, 130 pages,  frontispiece, 33 plates, original maroon cloth, foxing on preliminary pages, a very good copy.

'In I887 I traversed Bushmanland for the Cape Government. In these days of motor cars it is scarcely possible for anyone to realise the remoteness of Bushmanland at that period, or the slowness of travelling by ox wagon. This expedition occupied nearly four months. During the trip I saw the last remnant of the yellow, or pure Bushman people, who were living in their own country, and amid their natural surroundings; they were still using their primitive stone, wood and bone implements and their own pottery. Some of these Bushmen were quite wild, and so dangerous that I was provided with an escort of fifteen troopers of the Northern Border Police.' Author's preface.

Dunn was not primarily an ethnologist; he was a highly respected geologist who served as the Government Geologist for the Cape Colony in the 1870s and 1880s. His geological survey work required him to travel extensively through remote parts of South Africa, particularly Bushmanland and Namaqualand. The book includes detailed descriptions and illustrations of Stone, wood, and bone implements (stone tools and weaponry like arrows and spears), pottery and other aspects of material culture and observations on hunting practices, shelters, and general lifestyle. He discusses the San people's spiritual beliefs, which he attempts to analyse through the lens of comparative religion of the time.